Ordinary Days
by LovelyBonesRaine
Summary: Neville's life was finally a happy one. A free one. He finally achieved what seemed impossible: a safe world for his wife and family. Just the ordinary life... the very thing he'd been longing for. Written postTDH. May be spoilers.


-1_August 4__th__, 2007_

_8:30 pm_

A gentle breeze had begun to work its way into the warm weather of Ottery St. Catchpole. The summer had been pleasantly warm and inviting, but this coolness was a breath of fresh air for the joint Muggle-Wizarding town. As the sun slowly sunk down behind the hills, the sky painted in mesmerizing hues of pink, orange, and purple, the lights began to extinguish from the windows of the houses, the streetlamps flickering to life.

In one particular house, the lights were still on, but they were dimmed, giving it a warm glow. Inside, a woman with dark brown hair was ushering a young child with hair equally as dark as hers. The small girl whined in a soft voice, as though she was afraid of waking the neighbors.

"It's time for bed, Tera-"

"But I'm not tired, mum!"

"Shhh… you know what happens if you don't go to bed on time, sweetpea…" The woman gave a gentle, but pointed look to Tera, who gasped in fear.

"Not the boggarts!" she wailed. "I never know if it's them or my engination!"

Neville chuckled softly as he watched his wife, Miranda, trying to reason with their little girl. Tera had always been one to put up a tough, but usually silent fight. '_Just like her father,_' he thought to himself, smiling as he walked over to the two, bending down to Tera's level. "Now, you know I wouldn't let the boggarts, or your _imagination _get you, Ter-bear," he said to her, squeezing her shoulder.

Tera smiled brightly, hugging him fiercly around the neck as she said, "I know, Daddy."

Neville flashed Miranda a smile, who smiled back gratefully, mouthing to him, "I'll check on the baby," as she walked softly away to a room down the hall. Neville turned back to little Tera, scooping her up in his arms as he carried her down the hall as well, opening the door embellished with a plush butterfly door sign with the name "Teralyn" stitched on it.

He set her onto her bed, admist her giggles, helping her crawl under the blankets as he tucked her in. he reached onto the shelf next to the bed, pulling down a ragged and beloved looking teddy bear, dutifully named Albus (or as Tera had called him when she was a bit younger, "Alby"). She hugged the bear close to her chest, eyes sparkling with admiration as she looked up at her father. He leaned down, kissing her softly in the forehead, mumuring, "Love you, Ter-bear."

"Love you too, Daddy…" she murmured back as she settled into her bed, her eyes closing as sleep overtook her. He sat on the edge of her bed for a moment, watching her as she fell asleep, then got up, tip-toeing out of the room, letting the door click softly as he closed it.

Neville then ventured down the hallway, stopping to lean against the door frame of their son Sam's bedroom. His own door had a plush quaffle and broomstick door sign with his name "Samuel" stitched in the handle of the broomstick. Miranda was standing next to Sam's crib, a ghost of a smile on her lips as she watched him sleeping soundly in the darkness of his room.

A moment later, she turned away from the crib, assured that he was alive and breathing, smiling at her husband as she closed the door softly behind them.

Without a word, the two went about the rest of their nightly routine: turning off lamps, locking the doors, making sure the stove was turned off, closing the shades, and straightening up the various rooms in their simple, one-story house. Both knew that they wanted many children, due to their lack of siblings and now parents, but after much searching, they settled on the house they were tidying up now. Miranda had fallen in love with its sense of warmth and "home-iness". Neville found it reminding him of his childhood home.

As they ventured into their own room, tired and ready for some well-deserved alone time, Neville's thoughts turned to the moment they first met.

He had been rushing around, helping as many injured students as he could get to. Right after Harry had gotten rid of that blasted Voldemort, he had gone back to his duties of searching for the injured and doing what he could to restore them. One of his last few trips had been with Miranda.

Miranda herself had been caught in a crossfire as she stunned a group of attacking Slytherins with another girl from her house, ending up hit with Sectumsempra across her abdomen. She had ended up with severe hemorrhaging and loss of blood, and just as she had been ready to pass out, Neville found her, right away attending to her gashes, saying everything and anything to get her to stay conscious.

"_What's your name?"_

"_Miranda… Miranda Knight…"_

"_That's a beautiful name… your dad wouldn't happen to be Phaelan Knight, would he?"_

"_Well… yeah, there's not very many of us left-"_

"_I've heard quite a bit about him… oh, and sorry about your mum…"_

"…_you know about that?"_

"_Well, it was all over the news, wasn't it?"_

"_Yeah, it was…"_

"_I'm Neville, by the way, Neville Longbottom."_

"_Nice to meet you."_

"_My pleasure…"_

At the time, she had found it odd to talk about these things as she teetered close to death, but Miranda couldn't thank Neville enough for all he had done. After using every salve, balm, potion, and healing charm he could, he had restored her to near-perfect shape, unfortunately leaving the rough slashing scars behind, the dark magic behind them not allowing the skin to fully heal.

It was no surprise when the two of them stumbled into each other again less than a few weeks after the attack. The two had gone out for coffee, exchanging news, gratitude, and other stories. They became fast friends, a year later, they had fallen hard for each other. It didn't take long before they married, alongside Harry and Ginny, who married a few weeks after.

Three years later, after touring the other countries of Europe and training for their respective careers, Teralyn was born, bringing, in Neville's opinion, one of the greatest gifts in the world into their lives. Tera had been a quiet baby, hardly ever crying, even when she was held by their close friends and relatives. She was also a (mostly) agreeable toddler. One with a big imagination, albeit, but a resourceful and loving one, as well.

Neville's joy only increased when the arrival of Sam occurred back in March. He had become accustomed to the whim and dreams of his little girl, and now, he had a little boy to teach the wonders of Quidditch and his favorite subject: Herbology. Same had a few years to go before he'd be able to grasp these concepts, but having the chance to plan gave Neville such immense hope and happiness.

As he began to change for bed, he spyed Miranda out of the corner of his eye, slipping on a nightgown, giving him a very brief glimpse of the zig-zagged scars on her stomach. He knew she despised them; they were a terrible reminder of that night so long ago. But they both knew that it served to be a positive as well; when Tera had spied the scars at an appointment during Miranda's pregnancy with Sam, it opened up a door of opportunity. The opportunity to share their place in war history with their daughter.

They spoke of the valiant students who had fought for the freedom of their school and their world. They told the tale of Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived, and his remarkable triumph over Voldemort. They recounted Neville's brave killing of Nagini, the "nasty snake", as Tera now called it. They also shared the story of the scars on Miranda's stomach, and of how Neville rescued her from death.

Tera had listened to all this with awe in her eyes. Ever since, she vowed she would be just like her parents, helping those in need and fighting the "bad guys". She told anyone who would listen that her daddy and mommy were heroes.

Neville wouldn't consider himself a hero. He just did what everyone else was doing: helping others around him, fighting for the freedom of Hogwarts, keeping faith and hope alive of a better world for his future family. Miranda considered the same of herself.

Despite the trials and hardship, the two had drawn together and found new hope in the other. A solid foundation. A friend. A lover. A life like no other that had been waiting for them for years, and was finally beginning.

As the two slipped into bed, Miranda grabbed her wand, murmuring, "_Nox_," at the lamp, letting it extinguish slowly as she set the wand back on the table next to her. Neville's arm wound gently around her waist, pulling her close to him as she lay back on the bed. She curled up next to his body, her head resting in the crook of his neck.

"Love you," she said softly, kissing his neck as she drifted into well-needed sleep. He nuzzled her hair, whispering back as his own eyes closed, heavy with exhaustion, "Love you, too…"


End file.
